Tuesday

Prices keep going up but people keep buying as 2017 starts to draw to a close on a good note for the Massachusetts real estate market.

The median price of a single-family home rose again in October, the 19th consecutive month with an increase, and total October home sales surged to a 13-year high, the Warren Group reported Tuesday.

There were 5,192 single-family homes sold in October, a 5.5 percent increase compared to October 2016. So far in 2017, single-family home sales are up 0.1 percent over the same period in 2016, though market analysts are not fretting the slight growth.

"It does look like sales this year will end up doing very well and it will hold its own with last year," Tim Warren, CEO of the Warren Group, said on a podcast released Tuesday. "We'll probably have a flat 2017 but given that 2015 and 2016 both had double-digit increases in sales, a flat year in 2017 is still quite an achievement."

The median price of a single-family home sold in Massachusetts last month was $360,000, up 5.8 percent from $340,000 last year, the Warren Group said. The month-over-month median price rose 5.2 percent from $341,175 in September.

October condo sales were up 8 percent in October, with 2,054 units sold last month. The median condominium sale price rose by 5.3 percent, hitting an October high of $332,500.

Warren said demand remains strong in Massachusetts and that he expects prices will "continue to inch up" amid a shrinking inventory.

"I don't see any storm clouds on the horizon for the local real estate market," Warren said. He added, "Overall, I think I'd have to say this is shaping up as a good year for the real estate market."

The Boston Foundation on Tuesday released its 15th annual Greater Boston Housing Report Card, which found Boston has granted nearly 60 percent of housing permits issued for buildings of five or more units this year, and over 41 percent of all new housing permits -- nearly double its share just five years ago.

The number of permits issued outside the city declined in 2017, according to the report, which cited data from 2015 indicating more than half of renters and 36 percent of homeowners with mortgages are paying more than 30 percent of their income on housing.

"While there are some hopeful signs for housing growth, affordable and middle-class housing remain difficult to find – and too many communities fail to see responsible development as the asset it can be," Boston Foundation President Paul Grogan said.

In Everett, the median selling price of a single-family home has risen 33 percent since 2015, from $307,500 to $410,000, according to the report. In Lynn, the median price increased 20 percent from $278,250 to $335,000, and in Malden prices are up 19.5 percent to $430,000.